On November 26, 1999, Juli went in for surgery and biopsy because a large lump was found on her lower right jaw. A week later it was diagnosed that she had squamous cell carcinoma. Although there are plenty of heroic measures that one can do, there are no guarantees. I opted to put Juli on a strict natural/raw diet and follow those methods of naturopathic therapy. Again, there were no guarantees. But we fought this cancer together, and I will love her unconditionally as she loves me

On January 31, 2001, Juli and I had to face the decision for ending her life. In three days, the tumor had grown from a pea size to that of a baseball. I could not subject her to yet another surgery. The last one had been less than one month before and during that time one of her lungs had collapsed - possibly due to the anesthesia. The cancer had grown into her jaw on both sides and was traveling up into her nasal cavity.

All in all, Juli had a fun life. She lived longer than I had expected with the cancer, a year longer actually. She never really was in pain, just a lot of discomfort. On her last day we went out and did chores together, checked out the chickens and of course, harassed the sheep one more time. Went and saw all the new babies, too. It was a very difficult decision as Juli acted as nothing was wrong and was free of any other health problems. If it weren't for the tumor, she would have been with us for far longer.

Juli came back to me in a dream about 20 days later, looking just like she did in the above picture with her sitting on the log. Happy, healthy and full of love.

I will always miss her and I think of her often.

In many ways, her daughter, Rebecca, has similar traits and attitudes.

And so, life lives on.